On behalf of the American people - your own people - I send this Christmas message to you, to you who are in our armed forces:

We ask God's blessing upon you - upon your fathers, (and) mothers, and wives and children - all your loved ones at home. We ask that the comfort of God's grace shall be granted to those who are sick and wounded, and to those who are prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, waiting for the day when they will again be free.

And we ask that God receive and cherish those who have given their lives, and that He keep them in honor and in the grateful memory of their countrymen forever.

God bless all of you who fight our battles on this Christmas Eve.

God bless us all. [God] keep us strong in our faith that we fight for a better day for humankind - here and everywhere.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Fireside Chat
Broadcast from Hyde Park, NY